New Delhi: In a meeting with the three Services vice chiefs on Wednesday, the Defence Minister will review the expenditure made by the Armed Forces this year and their plans for the remaining part of the fiscal.

The meeting comes at a time when there is a possibility of a budget cut in wake of the economic slowdown. The Defence Ministry has been allocated Rs 1.93 lakh crore for the current fiscal but it had made a demand for additional funds of more than Rs 40,000 crore for its expenses.

The Defence Minister will also review major military modernisation projects of the Armed Forces. The Ministry has undertaken a major defence modernisation project under which it is planning to spend USD 100 billion on procurements for Armed Forces in the next 5 to 10 years.

In recent times, the three service chiefs have been asked to prioritise their procurements and avoid duplication in acquisitions. The major Indian defence procurement programmes include the multi-billion dollar deal for procuring 126 multi-role combat aircraft, over USD 2 billion deal for procuring six mid-air refueling tankers, six additional C-130J Super Hercules aircraft from the US.